CHAPTER-5: FIELD STUDY ON DROUGHT VULNERABILITY

Transcription

1 CHAPTER-5: FIELD STUDY ON DROUGHT VULNERABILITY 5.1 Objectives of the present Study Disaster management has been a multi-disciplinary subject. The research study, as of now, has primarily been focused on its scientific, technical, social aspects and very few on the management issues. There is hardly any work on public private partnership especially in Indian context. Although, it has been felt that synergy of public and private efforts have much greater promise. It is important to examine a framework of disaster management in India based on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) and highlight those factors which could strengthen PPP in disaster risk reduction. The present study aims at filling up this gap and identifying those factors, which could bring public & private efforts together to address disaster management issues. It is therefore important to study the following aspects, from management perspectives, to put to use more effectively PPP framework as well as the high-end technology like space for disaster risk reduction. i. Based on the case studies, examine the existing framework of disaster management both in public and private sectors and placing focus on PPP perspectives; ii. Using primary data, study the impact of natural disasters on the resilience and coping of the rural down the line poor community; iii. Highlight the role of technologies in disaster management with specific focus to gaps in the large-scale operationalization of space applications by establishing harmony with governmental policies and institutional arrangements. It is important to examine how the efforts of government and private sectors have reached down the line to the community level. The gap between the efforts made by public and private sectors and benefits accrued to the stakeholders provides the effectiveness. It also brings out the management issues for bridging the gaps. In view of this, a field study has been conducted in perennially drought-prone Kolar district of Karnataka. The primary 101

2 data has been generated through sampling and structured questionnaires. The objective of the study Impact assessment of drought on farmers, in reference to identifying the key management issues based on primary data. Specific focus has been placed on quantifying: Agricultural Impact Economic Impact Social Impact The scope has been limited to three villages of Kolar district, Karnataka i.e. Debenhalli, Kamanahalli and Kothur. 5.2 Methodology Sampling Plan To assess the impact of drought on farmers, first the exploratory research was done to find the facts about drought. International frameworks were studied to see the standards adopted worldwide in this direction. The various indicators that are used to judge the intensity, as well as used in declaration of drought vary over the countries. On the basis of study and considering the factors pertaining to India, questionnaire was formed to assess the impact through descriptive research. The framework of the questionnaire is based on U.S model to find the impact of drought. 5.1 Thus the plan consisted of first a thorough exploratory research followed by descriptive research by conducting a survey through questionnaire. The questionnaire is attached in Appendix-A Study Area: Drought Prone Kolar Dist. of Karnataka State The water resources in India depend on the monsoons, 70% of which occur during the monsoon season (June-November). Besides this, there are large tracts of land depending entirely on localized showers for their water needs, which cannot be relied upon. This will completely upset the rather rigid agricultural programme of the Indian farmer resulting in situations coming under the definition of drought. 102

3 The drought-affected, north-south zone comprising 111 taluks in Bijapur, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Raichur, Chitradurga, Tumkur and Kolar districts with less than 700 mm annual rainfall lie in eastern part of the State. This zone can be further delimited into four zones of drought intensity as, moderate, large, severe and disastrous drought conditions. Fig 5.1: Research Team Talking to Farmers During Primary Data Collection One third of Karnataka is constantly affected by drought. Based on various factors responsible for causing drought conditions, the Kolar district was identified as one of the chronically drought prone areas. Drought prone areas of Karnataka have delimited on the basis of annual rainfall, rainfall variability, soil moisture characteristics, annual potential evapotranspiration, water surplus and index of aridity (Barai & Naganna, 1978). The Kolar region covering Kolar district was selected as the study area, mainly because, according to the classification of drought in Karnataka, it has moderate drought with semiarid conditions and is subjected to dryness. Kolar in 1980 had only 2-3% of the normal annual rainfall of 730 mm. In such a drought-affected area, an effective drought mitigation strategy needs to be evolved so that some assured supply of water is made available. Kolar district is situated between ' and ' N and ' and ' E, with an area of km2. The average rainfall of the district is 730 mm, about 70% of its occurring during the southwest monsoon. September-October usually records the highest rainfall; which is also associated with thunderstorms. These were wide variations in rainfall recorded over a 50-year period. In 11 out of 50 years rainfall was less than 80% of the normal. Though 103

4 the district as a whole did not record two consecutive years with rainfall less than 80% of the normal, such occasions are known at individual stations. From: Groundwater Monitoring and Management (Proceedings of the Dresden Symposium, March 1987). IAHS Publ. no. 173, Sampling Method The sampling method used is stratified Convenience Sampling. Initially sample has been divided under 4 strata according to their size of land holding and then farmers were selected using convenience sampling method Sample Size The sample consisted of 200 farmers spread over three villages. The sample households were nearly 50% of the total number of households. The sample also comprises 10 technical experts and 30 administrative functionaries besides 200 actual suffer villagers for the study. Fig 5.2: Village Formers and Community Centre visited during Primary Data Collection in Kolar Dist. of Karnataka 104

5 5.2.5 Analysis Tool Entire data collected from 200 farmers, 10 technical experts and 30 administrative functionaries was fed into SPSS (Statistical Package). The data was properly coded, discrepancies removed, variables assigned etc. Then the data was analyzed on the predecided parameters Sampling Seeing the past trends in frequency of drought and also the ease of access to location Kolar district was chosen for conducting the survey. As it was not possible to conduct a thorough survey in the entire district, three villages in the Boodhikote Hobli of the district were chosen namely Kamanhalli, Debenhalli, and Kothur for the purpose of survey. The profile of the households surveyed in the three villages is shown below one by one. (A) Village: Kamanahalli In all 28 households were surveyed out of a total of 60 households in the village. Gender: There were more males than females interviewed in this village. The number of males was 21 and that of female was 7. Size of Land Holding: The farmers were equally spread over below 2 Acre and 2 to below 5 Acre category comprising 35% of the population each. The rest two categories had smaller share of population. Table-5.1: Size of Land Holdingand Percentage of Formers Slno Size of Land Holding Percentile (%) 1 Below 2 Acres Acres Acres Above 10 Acres

6 Size of the Family: The size of the family indicates the number of people that the household needs to feed from the produce it manages during the year. The mean family size in the village is Fig 5.3: Family Size Vs Household feed Mean = Std. Dev. = N =28 (B) Village: Debenhalli In all 38 households were surveyed out of a total of 73 households in the village. Gender: There was almost equitable distribution among the two genders, with 20 males and 18 females. Size of Land Holding: The majority of the land holding size in the village is between 2-5 Acre comprising 53.57% of the farmers surveyed. The distribution in the other categories is shown in the table below: Table-5.2: Size of Land Holding and Percentage of Formers Slno Size of Land Holding Percentile (%) 1 Below 2 Acres Acres Acres Above 10 Acres

7 Size of the Family: The size of the family indicates the number of people that the household needs to feed from the produce it manages during the year. The mean family size in the village is (C) Village: Kothur In all 134 households were surveyed out of a total of 290 households in the village. Gender: Among the farmers surveyed there were 74 males and 60 females. Size of Land Holding: The majority of the farmers belong to 2-5 Acre category comprising around 52% of the population. The distribution among other categories is as shown in the table below: Table-5.3: Size of Land Holding and Percentage of Formers Slno Size of Land Holding Percentile (%) 1 Below 2 Acres Acres Acres Above 10 Acres 9.09 Size of the Family: The mean family size of 6.38 in this village is comparatively lesser than the other two villages. 5.3 Analysis For the purpose of analysis, data of three villages is combined. To find the impact of drought on farmers they are divided under four categories. This gives the relative effect of drought on farmers depending on their size of land holding. The four categories are: i) Below 2 Acres ii) 2 to 5 Acres iii) 5 to 10 Acres iv) Above 10 Acres 107

8 The impact is studied in terms of agricultural, economic and social effects. Along with this, certain general observations are also made. Each impact has its own indicators which indicate the intensity of the drought. The effect is represented for each indicator for the above four listed heads. Fig 5.4: Family Size Mean = Std. Dev. = N = Impact on Agriculture The impact of drought on agriculture is studied in terms of various key indicators which are being described below: Rain-fed Vs Irrigated Area: This gives the picture of the vulnerability of land to the failure of the monsoon. Farmers in the above 10 Acre category have maximum percentage of their land holding as the irrigated land. Though farmers with smaller land holding seem to have considerable land portion as irrigated, they use nearby river sources as the source of irrigation, which dries during drought. 108

9 Chapter-5: Field Study on Drought Vulnerability Total amount Consumed vs. Produced: Farmers with smaller land holding manage to be self sufficient in consumption i.e. they consume whatever they produce and this is the reason for correlation being 1. For the other three categories, the correlation figure increases with increasing land holding size. The reason for this behavior could be explained as the people with larger land holdings tend to have large family size and thus need more quantity for self consumption. Another reason is instead of selling in the market they prefer to store the food grains in case of contingency in the subsequent years. 109

10 Effect on production: There are two types of crops that a farmer generally grows: food grains and cash crops. Food grains: generally grown in the rain-fed area. The production of food grains falls nearly by 50% in the drought year. The three villages that were visited had Ragi, Groundnut, Maize and Dal as the major crops being grown among the food grains. Following graphs show the mean production of these crops in the normal and drought year. Certain crops are being grown by farmers of specific category, not by all. For example, Dal is being produced by farmers in the 5 to 10 Acre category only. Fig. Fig Ragi Produced under Normal & Drought Conditions Ragi Produced under Normal Conditions Ragi Produced under Drough Condition Mean Ragi Production Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Above 10 Acres Size of Land Holding Fig. Fig Groundnut Production under Drought and Normal Conditions Fig. 5.8 Groundnut Production under Normal Conditions Groundnut Production under Drought Conditions Mean Groundnut Production Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Size of Land Holding 110

11 Fig. Fig Maize Production under Drought and Normal Conditions Maize Production under Normal Conditions Maize Production under Drought Conditions Mean Maize Production Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Size of Land Holding Cash Crops: Cash crops are grown in the irrigated area due to requirement of large quantity of water. As these crops are grown in the irrigated area, the constant supply of water is maintained, and hence their produce either remains same or is reduced by a small amount in the year of drought. The major crops that were grown by the farmers in the three villages visited are Paddy, Mulberry and Vegetables like Tomato, Potato etc. Following graphs show the mean production of these crops in the normal and drought year. Fig. Fig Paddy Produced under Normal & Drought Conditions Paddy Produced under Normal Conditions Paddy Produced under Drough Condition Mean Paddy Production Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Above 10 Acres Size of Land Holding 111

12 Fig Fig. 7.9 Vegetables Produced under Normal & Drought Conditions Vegetables Produced under Normal Conditions Vegetables Produced under Drough Condition Mean Vegetable Production Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Above 10 Acres Size of Land Holding Source of Irrigation: There are various sources that can be used by the farmers for the purpose of irrigation. Among them the ones that are being used by the farmers in these three villages are open-well, bore-well, nearby River etc. Following graph shows the count or the number of the particular source that are under usage. As the graph represents, farmers in the marginal category do not have their own source of irrigation and mostly depend on the use of the local river, which is accounted under others category, while the farmers in the larger land holding have their own source of irrigation (such as bore-wells). Fig 5.12: Source of Irrigation 112

13 Availability of Source: There are some sources of irrigation that are permanent in nature like Bore well, while others may or may not be present during years of drought depending upon the intensity of the drought. The following break-up indicates whether the source of irrigation that farmers use is available in the year of drought or not. The graph indicates that out of 60% of farmers who have some source of irrigation, 25% of the resources do not work or are unavailable during drought and hence only 35% of the farmers have some permanent source Economic Impact This impact reflects the availability of funds to farmers both in a normal year and in a year of drought. The impact also tries to analyze how the farmers cover up for the lack of funds. The impact of drought on several economic indicators indicating the severity of drought on the livelihood of farmers is explained as follows: Fig. Fig Income from Agriculture Produced under Normal & Drought Conditions Income from Agriculture under Normal Conditions Income from Agriculture under Drough Condition Mean Income from Agriculture Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Above 10 Acres Size of Land Holding Income from Agriculture: The major occupation of farmers in all the three villages was agriculture. For most of the farmers in the below 5 Acre category the food is barely sufficient. They use it for their self consumption, only a small portion that includes cash 113

14 crops like mulberry and paddy are being used for selling and hence agriculture may not exactly be called as a source of income, but a source of living. The farmers in the above 5 Acres category though produce enough prefer to stock rather than selling, this is to prepare themselves for the years of contingencies. Following graph shows the annual income of the farmers from agriculture: Income from Livestock: Income from livestock is not much affected until and unless the drought is perennial. Needless to say that marginal farmer has very few livestock in comparison to bigger farmers and hence their income from this source is also marginal. Fig. Fig Income from Livestock under Normal & Drought Conditions Income from Livestock under Normal Conditions Income from Livestock under Drough Condition Mean Income from Livestock Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Above 10 Acres Size of Land Holding Income from Agricultural Labour: After studying the impact what came out as inference is that people in the below 2 Acre category who do agricultural labour in normal as well as in drought years have reduction in their income from this source in the years of drought. This is because they do not get the labour locally and they have to go to far off places like Bangarpet and Bangalore to find labour. Though they get higher rate of wages for the same work in these places but the expenses increase due to money spent in transit. 114

15 The farmers in the other three categories have more income from this source in the years of drought as they normally do not go for agricultural labour generally because they have to work on their own land. But now due to inability to work on their land they search for labour and hence the income increases. Fig. Fig Income from Agriculture Labour under Normal & Drought Conditions Income from Agriculture Labour under Normal Conditions Income from Agriculture Labour under Drough Condition Mean Income from Agriculture Labour Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Above 10 Acres Size of Land Holding Fig

16 Income from Other Sources: Income from other sources remains almost constant in the years of drought as most of the times they are not dependent on rainfall. These sources include permanent job, tractors being lent for transportation, construction work etc. Only some of the activities are agricultural dependent the impact of which is visible under the farmers of 2-5 Acre category for whom the income reduces. Loss of Revenue: As the three villages visited had agriculture as the primary occupation, the major reason behind loss of revenue was crop failure. To some of them, who were engaged in agricultural labour, loss was due to reduced labour both in terms of number of days and reduced rate. This loss also accounted for increased expenses. As we can see from the chart below, the loss from labour is mainly in case of the farmers with land holding below 5 acres. Fig 5.17: Loss of Revenue due to Labour Though the produce of the crop in the irrigated area is not affected in the years of drought, but the quality is affected and this leads to a drop in the prices the particular crop can fetch. This leads to a loss in income. 116

17 The major reason behind crop loss was lack of water which in turn was due to less rainfall and absence of irrigation facilities. Insurance: The penetration of insurance was very low in all the three villages. Only 5 out of a total of 100 people who were interviewed had taken insurance earlier. The main reason behind this was the low awareness of the insurance products. People also did not have faith in the system i.e. they were not sure of getting the claims in case of calamity and hence did not buy even though they were aware of its existence. The premium that the farmers across various categories were ready to pay, if it is made available from a reliable source is shown as follows: The majority of farmers in the below 2 Acre category are ready to pay a premium of Rs per month with the mean being Rs. 41. Fig 5.18: Premium Below 2 Acre Mean = Std. Dev. = The majority of farmers in the 2 to Below 5 Acre category are ready to pay a premium of Rs per month with the mean being Rs

18 Fig 5.19: Premium 2 to 5 Acres Mean = Std. Dev. = N = 48 The farmers in the 5 to 10 Acre category have a mean of Rs 217 per month of premium that they are ready to pay. Fig 5.20: Premium - 5 to 10 Acres Mean = Std. Dev. = N =

19 The farmers in the above 10 Acre category have a mean of Rs 228 per month of premium that they are ready to pay. The highest that they are ready to pay is Rs 900 per month; this is because they have source of irrigation and their produce is not much effected in the year of drought. So they are not skeptical about the produce over years and hence not interested in buying insurance products. Fig 5.21: Premium - Above 10 Mean = Std. Dev. = N = 7 Government Relief Funds: The awareness of the relief programmes that are run by the government is very low in the villages. 8 out of 100 people had idea of the some programme that was run in one of the several years of drought. These 8 people were benefited under the Tomato relief scheme run by the government. The scheme was to give relief to farmers, whose produce of Tomato was affected due to drought. Government bought the low quality produce from farmers at fixed prices and thus compensated for their loss. All the 8 people who had taken relief complained of the slow reach of funds. One out of these 8 also stated that the amount he received was insufficient. 119

20 Effect on Livelihood: In the absence of funds during years of drought people opt for certain alternatives to have sufficient money at hand for food, clothing and other necessities. Few of the options are: i) To sell land / assets ii) To sell livestock iii) Relocate to other areas which are not suffering from drought iv) Look for other job options v) Others Only 1 person out of 100 considered sale of asset, that also to pay back his loan. A total of 14 people considered sale of livestock to generate funds, the distribution of these 14 people across the four category of farmers is shown below: Fig 5.22: Land Holding vs Sale of Livestock People have not relocated due to drought. They go out for finding work to nearby villages in the years of drought and get back to their houses in the evening. For farmers who do not generally go for agricultural labour exercise this option in the year of drought. 120

21 Fig 5.23: Opting for Agriculture Labour during Drought Other job options include carpentry, masonry etc. which farmers opt for in the absence of any other alternative. Fig 5.24: Opting for Other Job Options during Drought 121

22 Loan Payment: The graph indicates the correlation among the installment of the loan taken that the farmer is supposed to pay in a month and the amount that he actually pays. Farmers in the marginal category usually take loan from locally available resources like Self- help group or cooperative organizations, as they regularly visit these places, and they are found to pay their installments on time. They may make defaults in a month and then compensate for it in the next month. But overall the repayment may be considered good. Farmers in the 5 to 10 Acre category are observed to have a co-relation of 1, which means they are most regular in terms of repayment. Larger farmers i.e. the ones with land holding in excess of 10 Acres have the most defaults, they take loans from the banks and at times do no repay a single installment which leads to the NPA of banks in rural areas. These loans range in Lakhs and are usually taken for buying agriculture equipment like tractor etc. Fig. Fig : Correlation of Installment Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Above 10 Acres Size of Land Holding Social Impact The social impact indicates the effect on day to day life of people. It indicates how they cope up with lower income during drought by affecting their livelihood. The effect on various social indicators is shown below: 122

23 Number of meals: Number of meals that a farmer takes normally during a day is 3, during drought when there is not sufficient disposable income, people in the below 5 Acre category tend to have 2 meals per day. As people in the higher land holdings stock the food items, there is no change in their food habit. Water consumption: Water consumption falls for everybody during drought; the impact is more severe on people with smaller land holding as they do not have any source of irrigation and the community water resources also get dried up. So, these people have to manage with lesser resources. The consumption falls nearly by 50%. On the other hand farmers with larger land holdings start using water judiciously and hence their consumption level is affected only marginally. Fig 5.26: Number of Meals during Normal & Drought Year 123

24 Fig 5.27: Water Consumption during Normal and Drought Year Milk Consumption: The milk consumption is very low among farmers with marginal land holdings. It is as low as liters per family for the farmers in below 2 Acre category. This consumption further falls to during drought. The consumption among the farmers in above 5 Acre category is comparatively higher and does not change during drought. Fig 5.28: Milk Consumption during Normal and Drought Year 124

25 Effect on Labour Days: The number of days people do agriculture labour has a significant effect on the income which in turn affects their livelihood. Three patterns under this head are observed. People in the below 2 acre category normally work for three or more days in a week but are able to get work only for two days during drought. Second pattern consists of people in the 2 to 10 Acre category; they normally do not opt for agriculture labour as they have their own land to work upon. But in the year of drought due to drying of soil and non availability of water they are not able to do so; and hence go to nearby villages or towns searching for work. The last pattern comprises of people in the above 10 Acre land holding. They have continuous work on their land, one or two people normally go for labour and that is not affected by drought. Fig Fig Labour Days during Normal & Drought Year No. of Labour Days Worked during Normal Conditions No. of Labour Dyas Worked during Drought Conditions Mean Labour Days Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Above 10 Acres Size of Land Holding Rate of Labour: People normally go to Bangarpet or Bangalore to work during drought. Though they get higher wages or rate per day, the money does not help improve their state as the extra money is spent in traveling to these places and also there is an increase in other expenses. So at first it may look that they have more income during drought but that is not true. 125

26 Fig. Fig Rate of Labour during Normal and Drought Year Rate of Labour Received under Normal Conditions Rate of Labour Received under Drought Conditions Mean Labour Labour Received Below 2 Acres 2-5 Acres 5-10 Acres Above 10 Acres Size of Land Holding Environmental Impact Following are some of the Environmental Impacts that were observed in the drought areas during the survey of farmers and officials: Increased desertification and damage to animal species: The degradation of the land which is what drought causes, has a major impact on the environment causing biodiversity loss and loss of productive capacity. For example, if current trends of soil degradation continue in Africa and no other measures are being taken, they ll end up feeding only 25-percent of the country s population. Damage to wildlife habitat, animal and plant species: Lack of water and lack of food will have a great effect on animals and plants in the drought-affected areas. Diseases and increased predation: Diseases get established in a drought stressed plant and the impact of the root rots may be significant. Usually, because of the hot days and chilled nights, dew may form on the leaves of the plants causing humidity and leaving them exposed to diseases. Also during drought periods, snakes have been known to emerge and snakebites become more common. Increased number and severity of fires: Fallen branches, leaves, grasses and scrub usually dry out and become highly flammable causing uncontrolled fires. That s what happens when there so much sun. South-east Australia is considered one of the most fire prone areas of the world, common for sever bushfires. 126

27 Wind and water erosion of soils: According to vulnerability, drought creates windblown dust bowls which erodes the landscape, damages terrestrial and aquatic wildlife habitat. 5.4 Findings On the basis of survey conducted and then the analysis carried out, following are the findings that can be implemented at the ground level to alleviate the condition of the farmers and to better equip them to face drought: (A) Formers: People should well in advance be taught the alternative crops and techniques to follow during drought. Water harnessing should be encouraged among farmers, this would help provide continuous supply of water. As the villages visited had agriculture as the major occupation people had no option than to migrate to neighbouring villages for work during drought. If some alternative job options can be created in villages by providing training to farmers in some specialized areas, people will have some source of income during drought. If the occurrence of drought is known a little earlier, food grains could be bought nationally as well as internationally well in advance. This could lead to a lot of saving for the concerned state. As people regularly visit Self-help Groups and also take loans from there, farmers could be made aware of the crop insurance policies and products through them. It will enhance the penetration of insurance. Insurance should be made more objective and simpler, to enable faster claim settlement and increase the faith of people in the product. People have faith in the information through self help groups so that any information regarding drought or its occurrence can be delivered through this channel. 127

28 (B) Experts/Official: Based on the survey carried out using experts/officials questionnaire, the findings are summarized below: Answers obtained for columns in the Questionnaire for Officials such as Area under cultivation, Production and Revenues do match well with the analysis presented for farmers. With regard to Funds allocated from various sources, the apportionment is highly variable and depends purely on the severity of the drought. The losses are assessed in realtime and the available funds are distributed meticulously for the various schemes introduced to salvage the situation. However there were administrative issues purely at local level with regard to assessment, allocation and distribution of funds and overall management of the disaster, which have to be tackled by the state and central govt. for strict implementation of govt. schemes and optimum utilization of funds for the disaster relief. The method generally looked at for declaring a short-term drought is Hydrological since lack of sufficient rain is the first indication of the oncoming disaster. The longterm drought declaration is based on the diminishing agricultural produce. The typical average annual rainfall in Karnataka is 1300 mm and this value for Kolar is 744 mm, much less than the state-average. But most of the years the Kolar District is becoming drought-prone due to annual rainfall level dropping below 300 mm. Information about the onset of drought is disseminated to the public soon after it is received from the govt. sources/genuine early-warning systems. This information is conveyed to people through self-help groups/ngos and electronic media with specific guidelines to be followed during the drought. The local officials make assessment of losses by conventional methods, prepare the reports and send to the State Govt. The damage assessment is also done at the centerlevel using the modern technology like satellite remote sensing. Soon after the declaration of drought by the concerned authorities, government releases funds to the State Govt. This fund is immediately utilized to cater to the needs of the affected community. The amount of fund received by each farmer is fairly sufficient to manage the situation, but due to improper management skills at the local level, there is always a shortfall of funds and delays. 128

29 Likely that some extra employment opportunities crop up temporarily to execute the schemes introduced by the Govt. in order to mitigate the disaster. The problem of food scarcity is resolved by requesting State/Central Govt. for releasing additional food grains for the affected area. A premium of Rs. 20/- per acre was found to be reasonable amount which the farmers can afford. Even the statistical analysis given in the thesis confirms that farmers in the category of under-2 acres land-holding have to pay Rs. 41/- on the average, and those in the 5-10 acre category pay Rs. 228/- on the average. Self-help groups are more popular and can be very effective for communicating various govt. schemes as well as awareness about insurance products to the farmers. The present electronic media is not very effective for educating the farmers as this media is mostly used for entertainment in rural areas. But small skits, ads and dramas can always be forced in between these entertainment programs to enlighten the farmers on various techniques that help in producing higher yield. The awareness automatically increases with the level of education of farmers. Better education facilities offered along with a mid-day meal every day should surely motivate the farmers for further studies. This helps them learn the modern methods and techniques of agriculture and adopt the same for their own benefit. Current generation young farmers are relatively more educated and pro-active in adopting scientific methods and govt. policies for increasing the productivity. In case of acute shortage of food-grains during a draught, farmers naturally prefer supply of sufficient food items that could last till the end of the crisis. But, if the supplies in the shops are able to meet the demand, farmers may prefer monetary compensation which they can spend scrupulously, and also can save something out of that. This is the case with the category of lower land holdings farmers (<5 acre), whereas farmers with higher land holdings, in addition to compensation in cash for redressing the crop-losses, also look for long-term measures taken by the govt. for mitigating effects of drought. Overall there was a consistency in the outcome of analysis; there were however certain complementariness identified when sample data comprising farmers were interpreted independently. On the other hand, the analysis of data from technical experts and 129

30 administrative functionaries revealed complementary/supplementary findings as listed below. Findings of 200 samples representing farmers Coping issues were identified more clearly Social impacts were clearly delineated Local issues were pinned down House hold variables/indicators were well captured Variability of house hold indicators was high Findings of 10/30 samples representing experts/officials Economic issues revealed better than social and household indicators Insurance challenges especially with regard to operational costs were clearly identified Governmental plans related to drought mitigation were better clarified Variability among the key findings was less than household variability It is important to highlight that findings were complementary and supplementary to each other when aggregated from household variables to govt. policies, which makes this analysis holistic. 5.5 Limitations Following limitations were observed in the conduction of survey of finding the impact of drought: About 200 formers are interviewed. As the farming community in India is very large, the figures achieved in the analysis are just indicative in nature. Farmers are skeptical of providing information like income, produce etc., this is because they are vary of losing their BPL cards. Thus, the figures given for production and income in the survey will be on the lower end. As the region interviewed was in Karnataka, there was problem conversing with people in their local language. Hence an additional person who knew the local language had to be called upon while conducting the survey. This may have led interviewer error to creep in. 130